The Bayer 04 team and staff will fly to South Germany after the final pre-match training session on Friday. The ETA at Augsburg Airport is 18.00 CET before travelling on to the team hotel in the city centre. On the morning of the match, the team will take part in a communal walk before heading for the WWK Arena at around 14.00 CET. Referee Christian Dingert is in charge of the match that kicks off 90 minutes later. As in the previous three matches, the Werkself will play in their lucky red kit facing an Augsburg team in white.
This will be Heiko Herrlich's first game against FC Augsburg – both as a player and as a coach. On Saturday, the Werkself coach will meet up again with Manuel Baum his former assistant during his time at SpVgg Unterhaching. At the express request of Herrlich, the now 38-year-old coach, who took over as manager of FCA at the end of December 2016, was brought into the then third division side for the 2011/12 campaign. In addition, Herrlich will meet a former team-mate in Augsburg CEO Stefan Reuter who he played alongside for Borussia Dortmund between 1995 and 2004 winning the Champions League, the Intercontinental Cup and two league titles before both retired at the same time. Werkself midfielder Dominik Kohr will also be reunited with some familiar faces at Augsburg: The 23-year-old made 102 appearances for Augsburg before returning to Bayer 04 in the summer.
The last time the two teams met in Augsburg was historic. On 17 February of this year, Bayer 04 won 3-1 with Karim Bellarabi opening the scoring on 23 minutes with the 50,000th goal in the Bundesliga. Former Bayer 04 striker Chicharito netted the other two goals for the Werkself. And the other goal in the encounter was also scored by a familiar face in Leverkusen: Dominik Kohr.
Saturday's game is the 15th competitive match between the two clubs. Looking at the records, FC Augsburg are, without doubt, a favourite opponent for Bayer 04. In the previous 14 meetings (twelve in the Bundesliga, two in the Cup) the Black and Reds have not lost once. Bayer 04 have eight wins and four draws in the Bundesliga fixtures. It is worth noting: FCA have only lost one of the last five league matches between the two clubs – and that was the game in February.
The Werkself are on a run, picking up eleven points from the last five match days – with the FCA team under coach Manuel Baum collecting just five points in the same period. Augsburg have lost their last two home games 2-1 – against Borussia Dortmund and Hannover 96. If FCA fail to earn a point against Bayer 04 on Saturday then it will be the first time in their eight years in the Bundesliga that they have lost three home matches on the bounce.
The Werkself are currently eighth in the table on 15 points. Just looking at the 22 goals scored so far this season, Herrllich's team are third behind Borussia Dortmund (27) and FC Bayern (24). Bayer 04 are top of the league in another ranking: The 2-1 victory over FC Köln was the 15th match in succession where the Black and Reds have scored at least one goal. The last time the Werkself achieved a similar run in the Bundesliga was between February and September 2016. That run ended with a goalless draw against FC Augsburg.
Video evidence has been used since the start of the season – and regularly is the centre of discussion. That affected Bayer 04 last Saturday when Kevin Volland's goal to make it 3-1 was ruled out for a handball by Leon Bailey in the build-up. That was the fourth time the video assistant has been called into action in a game involving Leverkusen – the referee's decision has always been overturned against Leverkusen. Only SC Freiburg have suffered the same fate to date. In contrast the Werkself, Freiburg have had two positive outcomes from reviews.
The 5-1 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach was victory number 100 in a Leverkusen shirt for Bernd Leno. The next milestone is just around the corner for the Bayer 04 keeper. Playing against FC Augsburg would be the 211th Bundesliga match for the 25-year-old. That would put him level with Christian Wörns in the club's top ten for appearances. There is only one goalkeeper in that group: Bayer 04 record holder Rüdiger Vollborn (401 games). Moreover: Bernd Leno is the only player to have played in every one of the twelve league games between FCA and Bayer 04.
There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Bayer 04 go into the first of two successive clashes with Borussia Dortmund boosted by their Champions League win at Manchester City. Ahead of the Bundesliga top match on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the tight schedule, BVB's strengths and returning squad members.
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Borussia Dortmund are doing very well in terms of points and results in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. BVB have only suffered two defeats to date this term. Now coach Niko Kovac's team are away to the Werkself on Saturday night, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET) in the top match on Bundesliga matchday 12. The two teams meet again three days later in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie in Dortmund. Two very competitive encounters are on the cards. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Bayer 04 Women clcoked up a 3-2 win in a friendly against Twente Enschede on Thursday afternoon in the last international break of 2025. In drizzle, Lilla Turanyi (16’), Kristin Kögel (65’) and Paulina Bartz (69’) scored the goals for the Werkself against the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen leaders, who are still unbeaten in the league.
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